UK Experts: Lipstick Chemicals May Lead to Bigger Breasts

Much like other industrialized nations, the U.K. has seen both waistlines and breasts swell in recent years with the average cupsize now a size 36C, up from a 34B a decade ago.

And, according to some experts, including dieticians and gynecologists, the reasons why breasts are getting bigger range from obesity to hormones, alcohol and environmental factors, according to a report in Britain's Daily Mail.

Some believe the problem to be xeno-estrogens or environmental estrogens, which are chemicals found in everything from lipstick and cosmetics to pesticides and plastics.

Xeno-chemicals mimic the effect of estrogen and are fat-soluble making them easy to store in the body. Gynecologist Peter Bowen-Simpkins, medical director of the London Women's Clinic, said theoretically hormones could be involved in this change in the female shape.

The hormone estrogen, used in birth control and hormone replacement therapy, has been linked to weight gain, an increase in breast size and increased risk of breast cancer. When "men took estrogen, as they used to in the early days of treating prostate cancer, they developed noticeably larger breasts," Bowen-Simpkins told the Daily Mail.